Nan is excited to see the progress in her apartment. I wondered how much is done or if you guys have been too swamped to work on the grandma properties. I would help if you needed me to. You know I can fix toilets.
All my love,
Patrick
Dear River,
I miss you.
Nan wants to come early. A week early. Next week. She desperately wants to be in town before Raven goes into labor. Mr. Dunn is going to drive her as the weather is unpredictable.
I will stay back if you would rather me not come early. If you don’t care, I promise to stay away. I’ll stay at the hotel until the baby comes.
Would you let Nan know, please? I don’t want to come if you aren’t ready.
I want you to know that I haven’t considered my time here as a punishment for hurting you. I think Rowan meant it to help me, to heal me, and it has. I have cherished every moment. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss you desperately.
Please, please let Nan know. I won’t be angry if it’s no.
All my love,
Patrick
21
Sam paced his small room at the hostel. Furious! He was fucking furious. Three weeks had passed since Sam landed in Dublin— and nothing. Sam’s faultless patience usually worked. He’d been doing everything right. He blended. He shopped locally. He went to the same places to eat. People began to recognize him.
He got a job at one of the coffee shop bookstores less than a block away from Triskelion,Literary Latte. And River and Rowan Byrne had even come in a few times. Never alone, though. They each had their own bodyguard. Just this past week, he noticed that their guards went into the coffee shop. They stood right next to them while extra guards stood on the sidewalk. There was no chance of initiating a conversation.
He hadn’t seen anyone else. At all. Not at the restaurants, or pubs, or on the sidewalk. Nowhere. They were definitely on lockdown.
The O’Faolains werenotgoing to beat him at his own game. They werenotgoing to kill his father and not suffer the consequences. Oh no, they had to pay. Some way. Only— this was the first time he truly felt like his dwindling options were fast dropping to nonexistent.
Adding insult to injury, his computer remote access apps were discovered. No more itineraries or doctor’s appointments.
He basically had no access to ANYTHING!
And then there were his @SammySoGood fans. They’d started leaving comments that he wasn’t following through with his special video. Where was it? Why was his site still up if he never had new content? No follow-through. Taunts, all of them. He’d even lost a few subscribers. Not good. Not good at all.
His pacing continued. He had to think. THINK! He had to come to terms with the fact that his original plan was no longer viable.
He could figure this out.
He would.
He wouldn’t let his father down.
22
Tonight was Raven’s baby shower and birthday party. It should have been a joint birthday party for Bran, too, as his birthday was February 8, but he wanted the night to be all about his wife. He said we could have lunch or dinner on his day. River was beyond excited.
Her and Rowan’s assistants had just left Triskelion, and she and Rowan were about to walk over to the O’Faolain Building. The cake and catered food would be arriving within the hour. They had enough of the four-floor complex decorated to handle throwing the party on the ground floor. They hadn’t let Raven see the party décor. She was so mad because she wanted to help. Too bad.
“Josh should be here before we head over. I can’t wait to see how the Muscogee Nation piece turned out. The asshole hid it from me. He said it was a surprise.”
“I can’t wait to see what he did either. He’s a truly talented metal smith. Hey, before I forget. Dom is moving into the loft this weekend. I thought maybe we could put together a housewarming basket of goodies to leave upstairs as a surprise.”
“I should have thought of that! Let’s make a quick list of what we want to add, and you and I can get everything picked up first thing in the morning. He isn’t moving in until Saturday afternoon, so we’ll have a few hours. Glad you’re a thinker, Row,” she chuckled while she gathered up Patrick’s newest batch of letters.
